Believe me, if prayer alone were the standard cure for mental illness, my mother would be healthy and whole instead of ravaged by the symptoms of schizophrenia. In fact, if faith were an effective inoculation instead brain disorders, she never would have developed such an illness. If going to an evangelical prayer meeting ensured mental health, none of the people I wrote about in my book Troubled Minds would have had anything to say. I interviewed faithful Christians who take medication, engage in therapy, attend support groups, and yes, pray regularly. God can heal anyone, and sometimes he does so miraculously. But most of the time, he doesn’t. Such an acknowledgment does not undermine God’s greatness or his goodness. He has placed us in a world where we live within the boundaries of the very natural laws he created–and with the presence of disease, decay, and death. Mental illness, like other diseases, is a reality of life in a world where parts of our body–including our brains–get sick and malfunction. We don’t consider it acceptable to prescribe prayer alone for diseased livers, hearts, and pancreases; why prescribe it for disordered brains? Prayer is critical to a healthy spiritual life, whether or not we are suffering from serious disease. But it is not a responsible replacement for medical treatment. - See more at: amysimpsononline/2013/09/evangelicals-youre-wrong-about-mental-illness/#sthash.9Eokaquc.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 08:02:43 +0000
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